Will Gaza Get Stripped?

By Matt Rees, Jamil Hamad

With Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip scheduled to begin next week, Palestinian infighting threatens to destroy one of the main benefits of the territorial acquisition. In a deal brokered by the U.S. two months ago, Israel agreed to hand over to the Palestinians hundreds of greenhouses and hothouses in Gaza, where settlers grow everything from celery to exotic flowers. The U.S., in turn, would compensate Israel for the agricultural facilities, which bring in $150 million in earnings and employ some 4,000 people. But the plan is unraveling, thanks to the greed of Palestinian bigwigs. As they delay final approval of the deal, and with it Israeli compensation from the U.S., settlers have begun dismantling greenhouses rather than leaving freebies for the Palestinians.

According to international agencies and top Palestinian officials, a range of Palestinian ministers, security chiefs and businessmen are vying for sole control over the greenhouses. For instance, Gaza businessmen balked when the government floated the idea of having a West Bank company administer the hothouses. And these aren't the only examples of intra-Palestinian tensions. Top Palestinian security officials say there is a dispute between different branches of the military over who will guard the empty settlements. To complicate matters, when a Gaza leader from the ruling Fatah Party last week declared that he had set up a "popular army" to guard the evacuated settlements, government officials viewed that as a veiled threat to take over the settlements unless his group got some cash. In the end, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will probably have to pay off all the feuding parties. But by then, the greenhouses--and a chance to grow the Palestinian economy--may have withered on the vine. --By Matt Rees and Jamil Hamad